Gate.



PATENTED JUNE 7, 1904.

T. A. HILL.

GATE.

APPLIOATION FILED JULY 16, 1903.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

N0 MODEL.

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PATENTED JUNE 7, 1904.

T. A. HILL.

GATE. APPLICATION FILED JULY 16, 1903.

,3 SHE ETS-SHEET 2.

N0 MODEL.

No. 762,057. PATENTED JUNE 7, 1904.

T: A. HILL. GATE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 16, 1903.

N0 MODEL. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Patented June '7, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

TERELIUS A. HILL, OF MARYVILLE, TENNESSEE.

GATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 762,057, dated June '7,1904. Application filed July 16, 1903. Serial No. 165,784. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:v

Be it known thatl, TERELIUS A. HILL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Maryville, in the county of Blount and State of Tennessee,have invented a new and useful Improvcment in Gates, of which thefollowing is a specification, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings.

My invention relates to gates which extend across a roadway or entranceto a building or other similar passage. The invention has referenceparticularly to gates which are supported at one end upon a hingeadapting the gate to move vertically upon said hinge.

The object of the improvement is to provide a simple and eflicient gateembodying devices adapting the gate to be turned upon its hinge bypulling a cord or similar device extending perpendicular, orsubstantially so, to the plane of the gate.

The improvement includes means for automatically latching the gate inthe closed position and in the open position, improved means for turningthe gate, and other features, which will be hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a gateembodying my improvement. Fig. 2 is a plan of the same gate. Fig. 3 is aside elevation of the hinge end of the gate. Fig. 4 is a plan of themechanism shown in Fig. 3. Figs. 5, 6, and 7 are detail viewsillustrating the construction of the gateframe.

Referring to said drawings, 1 is the gate proper. This is shown composedof the top rail 2, bottom rail 3, front upright 4, rear 1 upright 5,counterbalance-chest 6, and braces 7 8 9. Said gate is hinged on thehorizontal shaft 10, which shaft is supported by the posts 1111, saidposts being located at opposite sides of the gate and substantially opposite each other, the ends of said shaft being suitably secured to saidposts and said shaft passing through arms 12 on saidcounterbalance-chest. The forward ends of the braces 7 are shown securedto the upper rear corner of the gate-frame, and the rear ends of saidbraces are secured to the upper forward corner of thecounterbalance-chest. The braces 8 are shown secured by their forwardends to the lower rear corner of the gate-frame and by their rear endsto the middle of the forward portion ofsaid chest. The braces 9 areshown attached by their forward ends to the lower front portion of saidchest. Said braces constitute a strong and rigid connection between thegate-frame an d the counterbalancechest, and they are preferablydetachably secured to the gate and the counterbalancechest to the endthat the structure may be readily separated and the parts crated forshipment in knockdown form and in order that my improvement may bereadily and economicall y applied to ordinary hinged gates alreadyconstructed.

Between each arm 12 and the adjacent post 11 a guy-wire 13 is attachedto the hingeshaft 10 and extends thence horizontally and obliquelyforward to a suitable connection with the gate. The drawings show aV-shaped brace-wire 14, extending from the upper and forward corners ofthegate-frame rearward to about the middle of the gate-frame and joinedat such point to said guy-wires 13. Said guywires are shown secured tosaid hinge-shaft by means of hook-bolts 15, extending horizontallythrough said shaft.

A stop-bar 16 is secured horizontally to the posts 11 11 a shortdistance above said hingeshaft and far enough forward to engage saidguy-wires 13 when the gate has assumed the upright position. Since saidguy-wires are under tension and have some resiliency, they constitute anelastic buffer for the stopping of the upward movement of the gate.

A locking-bar 17 is hinged by its lower end between the forward portionsof the braces 9 by means of a pin or bolt 9*, extending horizontallythrough said braces and said bar and guided by its upper end between theforward portions of the braces 7. A latch-wire 18 extends from the upperend of said locking-bar forward along the gate-frame to latch mechanismto be hereinafter described. Said latchwire is under tension and tendsto hold the upper end of said locking-bar normally at its forward limit.The relative dimensions and locations of the parts are such as to bringsaid locking-bar 17 horizontally across the upper edge of said stop-bar16 and permit it to rest in a notch 19 in said stop-bar when the gatehas been turned into the upright position. Said locking-bar has a notch20 in its edge which is opposite the gate-shifting spring to behereinafter described, and said notch is so located as that when thegate is in the upright position the portion of the stop-bar at one sideof the notch 19 will extend into said notch 20 and hold the latteragainst movement upon its hinge in either direction. The notch 19 in thebar 16 is wide enough to permit the lateral movement of the locking-bar17 sufliciently to disengage the latter bar and the bar 16 from eachother. The bolt 9 extends through the bar 17 at such an angle as tocause the upper end of said bar to bear against the brace 7, which is atthe side of the gate corresponding to the location of the notch 20 insaid bar, and the flexibility of the braces 9 permits the upper end ofsaid bar 17 to move away from said brace 7. The upper end of said bar 17is narrow enough to permit said bar to be drawn toward the oppositebrace 7 far enough to permit the disengagement of the bars 16 and 17.Obviously this means of intlerlocking the bars 16 and 17 may bemodifiec.

By means of a spring 21, suitably attached to the upper end of thelocking-bar 17 at the side of the latter opposite the notch 20 in saidbar, the gate is shifted from the closed to the open position, and viceversa, and the drawing of said spring moves the upper end of said barrearward away from the gate-frame,

whereby the latch wire or cord 18 is drawn and the latch actuatedpreliminary to the raising of the gate, and as the action of said springis lateral to the plane of the gate as well as rearward the upper end ofsaid locking-bar is also drawn away from the plane of the gate in thedirection opposite the notch 20. Thus when the gate is open and thelocking-bar is in engagement with the stop-bar the drawing on saidspring for the closing of the gate will, as a preliminary step, drawsaid locking-bar laterally until the notch 20 is out of range of theadjacent upright portion of the bar 16.

The spring 21 is actuated by means of a vertical shaft 22, secured insuitable bracketbearings 25 and 25 and having at its upper end thelateral extension or arm 23. As already stated, one end of said springis attached to the locking-bar 17. The other end of said spring issuitably attached to the outer end of the arm 23 of said shaft 22. Thedrawings show this connection made by means of a swivel-post 24, securedto said arm. \Vhen the gate is closed, the arm 23 stands inapproximately the position shown in Fig. 4, forward of the verticalplane in which the gatehinge lies. When the gate is to be raised, theshaft 22 is rotated a half-turn, so as to swing said arm outward awayfrom the plane of the gate, as indicated by the dotted half-circle inFig. 4. In this position the direction of the action of the spring willbe rearward across the plane of the gate. As already stated, the

rearward drawing of the spring will draw said locking-bar 17 rearwardsufficiently to draw the latch wire or cord and release the latchmechanism at the front or free end of the gate. The continued drawing ofsaid spring will then rotate the gate upon its hinge until the uprightposition is nearly attained. Then momentum will continue the movement ofthe gate until the guy-wires 13 bear against the stop-bar 16 and saidstop-bar and the lockingbar 17 have interlocked.

hen the gate is to be closed, the shaft 22 is rotated a half-turn in thereverse direction, whereby the arm 23 is returned to its originalposition. This causes said spring to draw forward across the plane inwhich the hinge of the gate lies. As already stated, the action of thespring when in this position draws the locking-bar laterally anddisengages said bar from the stop-bar. Then the continued action of saidspring turns the gate forward upon its hinge until the latterv is nearlyin the horizontal position.' Then momentum continues the movement of thegate until the horizontal position is attained and the latch mechanismis engaged.

Any suitable mechanism may be employed for actuating the shaft 22, andfor the convenient engagement of said shaft the drawings showacross-headH applied to said shaft just above the bracket 25, and to said crossheadlinks 29 and wires 30 may be applied for turning said head.

The top rail 2, bottom rail 3, front upright 4, and rear upright 5 arepreferably distinct pieces joined at the corners of the gate by elbowclamping-plates 43. Said plates are concave on their inner facescorresponding to the exterior of said rails and uprights, and two suchplates are placed at each corner and bound to the adjacent rail andupright by bolts 44, extending transversely through said plates and therail or upright which is in line with said bolt. The top rail and thebottom rail each extend forward beyond the front upright into the spacebetween the two posts 45, by which the free end of the gate is heldagainst lateral movement. At 47 an elbow-lever 46 is hinged by one ofits arms to the front upright 4, so as to adapt said lever to move inthe plane of the gate. From said hinge said lever extends forward andthen upward almost to the top rail. At 48 the latch-wire 18 is joined tosaid lever and extends thence rearward be tween the upper elbow-plates43 to the upper end of the locking-bar. To provide space for the passageof said wire between said plates, the latter may be provided with.notches 49 opposite the line traversed by the wire. A middle upright 50is shown secured by clamping-plates 51, applied to each side of the endof said upright and the side of the adjacent rail and secured by bolts52.

Said plates 51 may be provided with notches 53 to make room for thelatch-wire 18. Ob-

viously the notches 49-and 53 may be omitted wire extends downward tothe latch 55, which latter engages the horizontal latch-bar 56.

Drawing the latch-wire 18 toward the inner or hinge end of the gate willraise the free portion of the horizontal arm of the elbowlever 46, andthe latter will lift the vertical latch-wire 54, whereby the latch 55 islifted out of engagement with the latch-bar 56.

An antifriction-roller 57 loosely surrounds the free end of the top rail2 between the posts 45, and asimilar roller 58 similarly surrounds thefree end of the bottom rail. Said rollers tend to reduce frictionbetween the gate and the posts 45.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination with a gate secured by ahorizontal hinge to an upright support, of a spring connected with saidgate, and means for shifting the direction of the action of said springfrom one side of the vertical plane in which said hinge lies across saidplane prior to the movement of the gate.

2. The combination with a gate and a suitable support, said gate beingsecured to said support by a horizontal hinge, a latch-post, a springapplied to said gate, and mechanism for shifting said spring from oneside of the vertical plane in which said hinge lies to the other priorto the movement of the gate.

3. The combination of a gate and a support therefor, the gate beingsecured to said support by a horizontal hinge, a latch-post, a springapplied by one end to the gate, and means for shifting the other end ofsaid spring outward away from the gate across the vertical plane inwhich the hinge lies.

4. The combination of agate, a suitable support therefor, and ahorizontal hinge joining said gate and said support, a vertical rotaryshaft, the upper end of which is extended and bent laterally, a springjoined to the upper end of said shaft and to said gate, and means forrotating said shaft so as to carry said upper end outward across thevertical plane in which the gate-hinge lies.

5. The combination of a gate, a suitable support therefor, and ahorizontal hinge joining said gate and said support, a vertical rotaryshaft, the upper end of which is extended and bent laterally, a springjoined to the upper end of said shaft and to said gate, means forrotating said shaft so as to carry said upper end outward across thevertical plane in which the gate-hinge lies, and stops for limiting themovement of the gate.

6. The combination with a gate secured by a horizontal hinge to anupright support, of a spring connected to said gate, means for shiftingthe direction of theaction of said spring from one side of the verticalplane in which said hinge lies across said plane prior to the movementof the gate, and latch mechanism at the free end of said gate.

7. The combination with a gate secured by a horizontal hinge to anupright support, of a spring connected to said gate, means for shiftingthe direction of the action of said spring from one side of the verticalplane in which said hinge lies across said plane prior to the movementof the gate, latch mechanism at the free end of said gate, and stopmechanism for limiting the movement of the gate.

8. The combination with a gate secured by a horizontal hinge to anupright support, of a spring connected with said gate, and means forshifting the direction of the action of said spring from one side of thevertical plane in which said hinge lies across said plane prior to themovement of the gate, and automatic latch mechanism at the free end ofsaid gate.

9. The combination with a gate secured by a horizontal hinge to anupright support, of a spring connected with said gate, and means forshifting the direction of the action of said spring from one side of thevertical plane in which said hinge lies across said plane prior to themovement of the gate, and latch mechanism in operative connection withthe means for shifting the direction ofthe action of said spring.

10. The combination with a gate secured by a horizontal hinge to anupright support, of a spring connected with said gate, and means forshifting the direction of the action of said spring from one sideof thevertical plane in which said hinge lies across said plane prior to themovement of the gate, and locking mechanism for securing the gate in theupright position.

11. The combination with a gate secured by ahorizontal hinge to anupright support, of a spring connected with said gate, and means forshifting the direction of the action of said spring from one side of thevertical plane in which said hinge lies across said plane prior to themovement of the gate, and locking mechanism for securing the gate in theupright position, said locking mechanism being in operative connectionwith said spring mechanism.

12. A gate secured by a horizontal hinge, a stop-post for engaging thefree end of the gate when the gate is closed, a spring attached by oneend to said gate and by the other to a tension member, such a tensionmember mounted upon a vertical axis, and mechanism for revolving saidmember partially around said axis from one side of the vertical hinge ofthe gate outward away from said gate across said plane.

13. The combination of a vertical swinging gate, a stop-post for thefree end of said gate, latch mechanism for securing the gate to said IIO.relation with said shiftable member.

14. The combination with a gate secured by a horizontal hinge, of avertical shaft extended laterally at its upper end, a swivel membermounted upon said end, and a spring having one end joined to said swivelmember and the other end to said gate.

15. The combination with a gate secured by a horizontal hinge, of anupright shaft extended laterally at its upper end, a swivel membermounted upon said end, a spring having one end joined to said. swivelmember and the other end to said gate, and means for rotating said shaftso as to carry said swivel member away from said gate and across thevertical plane in which the hinge of the gate lies.

16. The combination with a gate comprising a top rail and front and rearuprights joined by clamp-plates, of latch mechanism, a cord extendingfrom said latch mechanism between said elamp-plates, top rail, anduprights to the hinge end of the gate, and a shiftable locking-barattached to said cord rearward of the rear upright.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name, in presence of twowitnesses, this 8th day of July, 1903.

TERELIUS A. HILL.

Witnesses:

EDWARD HAoKER, (JYRUs Kenn.

